Mash-Up Round-Up: America, F*ck Yeah
‘My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too. And whether our forebears were strangers who crossed the Atlantic, or the Pacific, or the Rio Grande, we are here only because this country welcomed them in, and taught them that to be an American is about something more than what we look like, or what our last names are, or how we worship. What makes us Americans is our shared commitment to an ideal – that all of us are created equal, and all of us have the chance to make of our lives what we will.’
– Barack Obama
The week of November 22, 2014 was: getting lit with Grandma; major Solange wedding cape envy; and stuffing our faces before the world runs out of chocolate.
Rest in Peace Mike Nichols, a great American and an immigrant who helped define American culture.
Mash-Ups In The News:
Gay Wing of LA Men’s Jail is Free of Racial Tension, Gang Violence
Did you know that the color of a prison uniform says different things about your sexual orientation, mental health and more? See how these incredibly creative trans prisoners design clothes out of sheets.
via LA Weekly
Double Eyelid Surgery: Why? Who? How?
About 50% of people of East Asian decent have a monolid, meaning an eyelid with no crease. Starting in the 1800s, surgery was invented to “correct” this. It’s all the questions about self worth, identity, culture, societal pressure and just doing something that might make you happy, wrapped up into one surgery.
via NPR
Korean Beauty Products Take Over the World
Some 20% of Korean women have had plastic surgery. But you know what else they have? Amazing beauty products and regimens. We are talking 12 steps of ingredients like placenta and chia seed to make your skin glow. But seriously, they are so good, dudes wear it too.
via Fast Company
Why Do My Haircuts Cost More Because I’m Black?
Um, well, that’s a fair question. Why are black women charged a 40% surcharge for the same service?
via The Cut
Gov. Jerry Brown Honors Sikh Peach King, Holds Massive Sword
See California Governor Jerry Brown with a blue head scarf on, wielding a kirpan as he honors the Peach King of California, a Sikh man named Didar Bains who immigrated from Punjab in 1958. We love it all.
via Sacramento Bee
Pharrell on Race, Social Justice, and Why He Loves Black Women
He talks about empowerment, victimization and community. Most importantly, we learned in this interview that he wrote the lyrics to Rump Shaker.
via Ebony
BYU Students Fight for Their Right to Chin Hair
Hey, beards are hip! And young Mormons want to grow them! Besides, it’s Movember.
via The New York Times
Being Christian in Post-Christian Culture (Includes Tupac in Stained Glass)
We all have to adapt. In Kansas City, Christian groups are the hipness: baristas, coffee roasters, music venues.
via Pitch
On Serial, People’s Problems with Serial, and People’s Problems with People’s Problems with Serial
If you don’t already know, Serial is an incredibly engrossing podcast following the story of the 1999 murder of a young Korean-American woman named Hae Min Lee. It’s also raised important questions about who can tell what stories, how they tell them, and why.
via KoreAm Journal
Black With a Capital “B”
Language is power: the way we capitalize and punctuate has meaning. Why black and not Black?
via The New York Times
